‘Tolkien’ Trailer: Meet the Lord of the ‘Lord of the Rings’

J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the most-read authors ever, and his work has been adapted into some of the biggest movies of all time. Now he’s getting his own biopic; the trailer for it is above. Here comes Tolkien.

And ... apparently J.R.R. Tolkien’s real life was basically The Lord of the Rings? Obviously the film, directed by Dome Karukoski (Tom of Finland) is designed to make you see the parallels between the author’s exploits in love and war and the fictions he later imagined. He even says that this story is all about “fellowship,” a la the Fellowship of the Ring. The trailer is not exactly subtle about this stuff.

Nicholas Hoult stars as the famous author, and the cast also includes Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, Anthony Boyle, Patrick Gibson, and Derek Jacobi. Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

TOLKIEN explores the formative years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school. This takes him into the outbreak of World War I, which threatens to tear the ‘fellowship’ apart. All of these experiences would inspire Tolkien to write his famous Middle-Earth novels.